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i thought you might be interested to know that we've just updated the events page for "grand obsession: a piano odyssey."

we have lots of forum members participating in these events, and some of them may be performing (there will be updates on that very soon).

if you go to www.grandobsession.com and click on "news and events" you'll see the latest. it's being updated as plans evolve, so check back regularly.

especially take note that we now have a detailed schedule for the pianothon on piano row on january 12th. this is an expanded version of the piano crawl a bunch of us here created back in 2003 which was a huge success.

i'm hoping that after the pianothon, we might all be able to gather for dinner somewhere and enjoy each other's company more informally. perhaps we can plan it in this thread?

i am really looking forward to meeting so many of you who i have only known thus far online, and reconnecting with old friends. in case you don't know, many of us here at PW have been getting together like this since 2001.

my publicist teases me that i wrote the book just so i could have a lifestyle of attending piano parties.

This is great, Pique', and I'm so looking forward to this! Thanks for all your careful planning. It should be a great thing for your book and for Piano Row!

And dinner after sounds great. I've been reading a forum called Chowhound that has an active NYC contingent. Visitors inquire about NYC restaurants and group reservations all the time. I've already learned a lot, and I live here!

pianoloverus
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Registered: 05/29/01
Posts: 21717
Loc: New York City

Penny-Could you please PM me or send me your email or empty your PM inbox? I have something to tell you about the copies of your book that arrived at Barnes & Noble. Nothing to worry about but you should probably know about it.

Grand Obsession isn't a book of dry facts about pianos, it's a real story with real characters (many of whom we are familiar with) and an intriguing plot.

Sure you will learn a lot about the piano industry, and what makes one piano sound and feel different from another. But you will also get caught up in the adventure, and that's what makes it so much fun to read.

Perri put her heart and soul (and a lot of work) into this book, and it shows.

we've added more details to the pianothon and reading on the website. here they are:

New York City

Friday, January 11, 2008, 7 pm, Barnes & Noble Lincoln Center, 1972 Broadway at West 66th St. (212) 595-6859. Perri will read, take questions, and then sign books while Gabor Fuchs, Mikhail Pais, and Lex Korten perform on a grand piano provided by Beethoven Pianos. Pais, 17, is an award-winning young classical pianist from Russia. Lex Korten, 14, is a jazz phenomenon who has lately been holding audiences spellbound in clubs around Manhattan.

[please note that lex is the son of pw member grotriman]

Saturday, January 12, 2008, 1:30-6:30 pm, the inaugural Piano Row âPianothon,â celebrating the inception of the new Piano Row Association. West 58th Street between Broadway and Seventh Ave. Beethoven Pianos, Klavierhaus, Bechstein Piano Centre, and Faust Harrison Pianos host readings, a technical demonstration, performances, and a roving piano party on the only block devoted to piano showrooms in New York. You will have the opportunity to play the pianos at the end of each presentation, and GRAND OBSESSION will be available for sale and signing at each of the showrooms.

3 pm Klavierhaus, 211 West 58th St. Perri reads, and pianists Joseph Kubera and Mike âPhlebasâ Olsen reprise their performances in GRAND OBSESSION on a gold Art case Pleyel and a new Italian make, a Fazioli. (See Chapter 15.) Their performances will demonstrate the broad range of distinctive voices possible in pianos, and their suitability for different types of music. Questions and discussion to follow.

[please note that joe is pw's own realplayer, a very well-known contemporary music pianist with an international reputation, and mike olsen is pw's own phlebas, famed denizen of the pianist's corner. ]

5 pm Faust Harrison Pianos, 205 West 58th St. Perri reads, and store co-owner and composer Michael Harrison reprises his performance in GRAND OBSESSION of his abridged version of Revelation: Music in Pure Intonation (See Chapter 22) on a Bluthner concert grand. Revelation was named a top classical recording of 2007 by The New York Times and The Boston Globe. Michael and musicologist Stuart Isacoff will take questions about the art and science of this extraordinary listening experience. CDs available.

if you have any questions about the program--or suggestions--feel free to comment here.

also, it would be great to get a head count for who would like to get together for dinner afterward.

"Message: Perri, I just finished your book and I wanted to share with you my appreciation.

Until now, no one has been able to define what I've been feeling about the "vibration" or "sound". Not only did you translate for me the thoughts and feelings I've had about the piano, but you reached in and "warranted" allthe second guessing I had done in thinking I was so different in what I was hearing.

I have a step son who plays and he hears nothing except his music.

I told him I wanted to be like that, but I'm not. I hear "through" the sound and listen to the vibrations. I can't help it, I wished I could, but thanks to you, my heart is content in knowing the reasons for my obession with vibration.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for writing your book. I will read it again and again. I cried through most of it as you described "my"emotions. I haven't gone to the extent of finding the answers but am so glad you did.

I wanted to rescue you from the techs that treated you so badly and felt myself getting so angry because of their ignorance.

I feel like visiting Beethoven Pianos. I don't travel much at all, but maybe one day.

I'm joining pianoworld today as libby girl if only to voice my sincerest appreciation for your ability to find "the answers" that many of us have.

pique, I'm enjoying reading the book and hearing about familiar characters. It's fun. I'm just in the middle so far and it did arrive as a Christmas present. So I'll get back to reading it in a moment.